Hooray for Inventors

Hooray for Inventors
by Marca Williams


Hooray for Inventors is a great introduction to numerous inventors throughout time.  It details the inventions of Edison, Bell, the Wright Brothers and more.  Their stories are told in two to three page cartoons. 


These short stories would be great introductions to inspire students to do more reading about these amazing inventors. 


A bunch of the inventors are great examples of dedication and hard work because they weren't successful at first but had to keep trying to meet their goals. Their stories might inspire students to keep trying to achieve their goals in life and at school. 


Published: 2005

Genre: Non-fiction

Locations: School Library, Public Library

Live Writing by Ralph Fletcher

Live Writing
by Ralph Fletcher


I read Live Writing about five years ago and didn't get much out of it.  I must not have been ready for what the book had to offer because I just reread it and found so much useful information.  In the book, Ralph Fletcher actually mentions that you should reread the book over and over.  I probably laughed the first time I read that passage, but now I totally agree.  When I read it again, that's when, not if, I know I'll pick up new ideas to improve my writing instruction


I'm not sure if this book is written for students or for teachers.  Either way, it will help all of us become better narrative, personal or fiction, and poetry writers. While it never mentions the 6 Traits, it covers all of them.  It hits ideas and organization in multiple chapters.  It covers voice, word choice and sentence fluency in individual chapters.  


Live Writing doesn't contain any mini-lessons but as you read it, mini-lessons pop out at you.  "Leads: Breaking the Ice" inspired me to come up with three solid lessons on leads. "The End: Getting the Last Word" helped me figure out what I need to teach about endings. Finally, "Conflict: Here Comes Trouble" showed me what I needed to show my students about problems in narrative stories. 


Please read this book if you haven't read it before.  If you were like me, and read it a while ago, read it again.  First time and repeat readers are bound to gain insight into their writing instruction. 


Published: 1999

Location:  Amazon

"Getting Ready For Bed Directions" - Organization Lesson

Organization Writing Lesson
   - Getting Ready for Bed Directions


My class has been working on organization for the last week.  We've talked about and practiced bold beginnings and catchy endings but I'm still concerned about students putting things in order.  This lesson is to help students practice putting steps in order.

First, I'll ask my students to think about what they do to get ready for bed.  We'll take a minute or two to share.

Second, I'll read at least one of the following three picture books. None of the books are great upper elementary picture books but they apply to the topic in a fun way and get students thinking.


     1.  How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
          -  This book explains how dinosaurs say good night using two parts.  The first part details what    

             dinosaurs do not do.  The second part explains what dinosaurs do to get ready for bed.

  

     2.  Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready For Bed? by Barney Saltzburg

          -  An adorable pig does his bedtime routine, but the illustrations show that he is being extremely silly.  

             Finally, after going through six steps, he tells his mom that he forgot one thing.

     3.   Good Night, Monkey Boy by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

         - A young boy in monkey pajamas acts like a monkey while he gets ready for bed.

Third, we'll discuss what the characters did to get ready for bed.

Finally, I will ask the students to write.  Each student will imagine they are a parent writing a list of directions that tell the step by step how a baby sitter would put their six year old to bed.   Each student will be asked to write at least 10 directions in a logical order.

I did this assignment last year and allowed the students to be creative in choosing the 10 steps.  They came up with some very interesting writing.  This year I'm going to require them to use realistic bedtime activities.

Top Ten Picture Books to Read Aloud to Fifth Graders

- Shortcut by Donald Crews


This small moment story is focused on a group of brothers and sisters taking a shortcut home on the railroad tracks.  They have some fun goofing around and experience a little danger when an unexpected freight train shows up.   


- No, David! by David Shannon


In 13 years, I've never met a class that didn't enjoy this book.  You can use it discuss the themes of love and forgiveness or use it to teach revision for the ideas trait.









- Thundercake by Patricia Polacco


This is my favorite book by Patricia Polacco.  Fetching the ingredients to make a cake is a very clever way to solve the problem of being afraid of thunderstorms.  To show ideas, the story explodes moments and uses dialogue. 




- Knuffle Bunny Free by Mo Willems


 I love Knuffle Bunny and enjoy Knuffle Bunny Too but Knuffle Bunny Free is my favorite in the series.  Once again, Trixie loses Knuffle Bunny, but this book isn't just about Trixie finding Knuffle Bunny, it is about Trixie growing up.




- Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee


I'm pretty sure Marla Frazee is my favorite illustrator.  I just love how life like her pictures are. Roller Coaster is a great book for modeling focusing on one small moment of a big trip.  It is safe to assume that the main character did more than ride one roller coaster at the amusement park, but that is all Marla Frazee writes about.  


- The Daddy Mountain by Jules Feiffer


This is another book that does a great job of focusing on a short moment in time and just exploding it with tons of detail.  Instead of writing "I climbed up my daddy," Jules Feiffer stretches the moment out using step by step details of the ascent with funny thought shots mixed in along the way.




- Owl Moon written by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenhaar


Just like, The Daddy Mountain and Roller Coaster, Owl Moon takes a moment that could be written with very little detail and stretches it out into a beautiful book.  A young girl and her father go searching for a owl in the middle of the night.  Students wonder if they will ever spot one. 





- The Three Little Dinosaurs by Jim Harris


I love to read traditional fairy tales to fifth graders because with so many books and TV shows out there, they don't normally know them. While I'm not a big fan of the traditional version of The Three Little Pigs, with the long drawn out ending,  I am a big fan of The Three Little Dinosaurs.  In this retelling, a "big bad Tyrannosaurus rex" tries to eat three little dinos that have left their mother's slde The ending is awesome.


- Ugly Fish by Kara LaReau and Scott Magoon


Ugly Fish is a mean and selfish fish that eats all of the fish that move into his tank.  When he finally comes to the conclusion that he might be happier if he had a friend to play with, his owner decides to buy a bigger meaner fish.  Students love this not so happy surprise ending.


- Tadpole's Promise written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross

This is probably my favorite book to read to students because the ending is just done right awesome.  In the three years that I've read it, only one student has ever predicted the ending correctly.  In the book, Tadpole and Caterpillar fall in love.  Caterpillar keeps getting mad at Tadpole because he keeps breaking his promise that he won't change.  They eventually go their separate ways.  Then in the end, after Caterpillar has turned into a butterfly she goes off to find her Tadpole, not knowing he has changed into a frog.  When the butterfly and the frog meet again is  my favorite ending in all of picture books.